I’ve never been so fit…. 2go that is!

This week I fitted my new tyre pressure monitor sensors to my car, I knew it wasn’t going to take long, but I never guessed it would be that quick! I had to read and re-read the instructions just to make sure that I hadn’t missed something out or made a mistake. When fit2go say there system is easy to fit, they weren’t joking. However, I did find one thing hard, that was trying to get the release paper off the double sides tape on the monitor unit, that honestly was the hardest part of the whole job! ;o)

So what are they and what do they do? A tyre pressure monitoring system or TPMS, keeps an eye on the temperature and pressure in your tyre. If the tyre is starting to deflate or getting too hot, the system alerts you so you can pull over and sort it out. Most modern cars have them built in, but caravans and trailers don’t, so having a TPMS is a must if you are towing.

There are a lot of different systems on the market, but most are more complex than they need to be. Fit2go is breaking the mould by taking the approach that you really only need to know anything when something changed that you needs your attention. The fit2go system does not report to you the pressure in your tyre, it doesn’t tell you anything under normal operation it’s only when the tyre goes out of tolerance does it flag up an issue.

How to fit the fit2go TPMS

First of all it’s vital that your tyre pressures are correct, so I started by going round each tyre and making sure they were inflated to the correct pressure.

Inflate tyres to correct pressure

Next I fitted the anti-theft locking nut. A simple nut that screws onto the valve first.

Fit locking nut

After this had been done I screwed on the fit2go sensor and tightened the locking nut onto it. I did this on all four wheels. I have the extra two sensors that fit on the caravan so I did those as well. Each sensor will initially flash its little LED to show it is working.

Fit TMPS sensor

Lock nut against sensor using the spanner provided

Now it was time to activate the monitoring unit, taking a pen or a similar small pointed object I pressed the activation button on the reverse of the monitor until there was a beep and the power light flashed. Peeling off the release paper from the sticky tape on the back of the monitor I fixed it in a suitable place on the car windscreen.

Activate monitoring unit

Monitoring unit active and ready to stick to the windscreen

That’s it, that’s all there is to it. I must admit I couldn’t believe how easy it was and when I found out about them I wrote to fit2go and asked them a load of questions trying to find the weakness in the product. You can read their answers in my fit2go Q&A but you very quickly see that actually this is such a simple system and there isn’t anything they haven’t thought of.

The peace of mind that you get knowing that your tyres are monitored is obvious, but there is another benefit too because some insurance companies will give you a discount on your caravan insurance if a TPMS system is fitted. Your tyres are all that is in contact with the road and at 60 miles an hour on the motorway that’s a sobering thought. A TMPS system won’t stop a catastrophic tyre failure of course but to protect yourself from a tyre that is deflating then these are a must fit.

Don’t just take my word for it

Update (a few days later)

When I went through the fitting process I consulted my car owner manual for the tyre pressures. On a Land Rover Discovery 3 the recommended unladen tyre pressures are 33psi all round, so I set my tyres to this. Looking at them the next day however I decided they all looked a little ‘flat’ so I asked in the Discovery forum what their advice was, most people said they rolled on 34-36psi. Knowing that I was going to be pulling my van soon I opted to reset my tyres at 36psi. I took off the sensors, re-inflated my tyres and refitted the sensors.

Then I had a thought, do I need to reset the monitor too? I contacted Georgia at fit2go and her answer was (and I quote)

“So the answer to your question is no! The sensors will auto-calibrate to the tyre pressure when they are fitted to the valve- that’s the beauty and ease of the system!”

So there you go, if you need to change a tyre or have a puncture repaired or (as I did) change your mind about the air in your tyres, the pressure sensor will auto calibrate when it is refitted! Brilliant!

By day I used to be a self employed website developer running my company www.designconscious.co.uk but now I have flipped my career on it’s head and I have retrained as a caravan engineer servicing caravans and motorhomes. I can be found at Telford Caravan Services I am also the author of Make Camp. I along with my family love caravanning and time willing we go as much as we can. I have two teenage children so their hobbies and social life take precedence but when we can we are off in our Land Rover Discovery to ‘make camp’ in our Swift Coastline Esprit.

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ABOUT US

Make Camp is a blog written by website developer Ian Blackford about all things camping. Ian, his wife and two children were often seen in their white N Reg Mazda Bongo (but now can be seen in their Land Rover Discovery 3 with ‘Stan-the-van’ in tow) zooming down the M5 to Devon or Cornwall.

Ian realised that camping creates some eventful, infuriating, glorious, memorable but most of all happy times and he thought he really ought to write about it.